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As I have been working with go karts, mini-bikes, and anything else that uses these small engines I have been looking for the best engines. Within one year of working with these engines the Robin Subaru brand of engines stood out as the absolute best choice for an engine, specifically their EX line of engines. The high levels of thought and care that are put into these engines is amazing. PLEASE take a careful look at the Robin America website, and you can see some of the features and benefits of these remarkable little engines.

The EX engines have an advanced chain-driven SOHC (Single Over Head Cam). The SOHC design allows for higher preforming engines compared to OHV or L-head engines. Beyond the EX line, these engines will (as far as I have seen) have dual ball bearings on the crankshaft, and cast iron cylinder liners. Take a look through the robin america website to see examples of their technology. My favorite example is the 7hp EFI engine which is a spin-off of their EX21 engine. To back-up these claims in performance Robin Subaru recently introduced their 5 year warranty to step up from the previous 3 year warranty.

Now having that warranty is great, but it is pointless without good customer service. In the unlikely event that your engine breaks Robin Subaru is excellent to deal with. I have dealt with them before and they were very helpful, they promptly provided me with any information I requested. On top of all that, Robin Subaru provides all kinds of literature available for free download. Owners, parts, and detailed service manuals for newer engines, and older engines are available. Along with those manuals Subaru has engine output charts, and dimensional diagrams posted on their website.

Unfortunately, as great as these engines are there are some downfalls. Since these are more advanced, and not quite as common engines, your local lawn mower shop may not carry parts. Do not worry though, with the use of the internet you can get almost any part you need in just a few days. The only other downfall is the apparent lack of performance parts. Although major internal performance parts are lacking (cams, rods, and flywheels) there are still some around. ARC sells an aluminum flywheel for the EX21 engines, and various other companies sell parts for the EX27. Robin Subaru has also introduced its KX21 engine, which is made specifically for go karts. On top of all that you can always add a high flow filter, header, re-jet, and governor delete at home without much trouble. Most of these engines are built tough enough that the stock con-rod is rarely upgraded, even in extreme race conditions. Add that the general consensus is that the power of these engines is underrated from the factory and you have a decent amount of ponies. Manco go karts will actually take an EX27 engine (factory rated at 9hp) and slap a 10hp sticker on it. An excellent bit of information about using and modifying these engines in go karts can be found here. New links will be added below as I find them,Performance pipes

Some of you may be wondering why I'm posting this. All that I'm doing is trying to get these engines out into the market more. As you may have guessed I strongly believe these engines are a great option that many people aren't even aware of. I don't work for Robin Subaru or anything like that, I'm just a happy customer. Yes these engines are more expensive than clones, but look at all the amazing things Subaru has crammed into these engines. I'm not at all trying to say other engines are crap. If you want a clone, buy one! If you want to use that old Tec or Briggs you have in the barn, use it! All I'm trying to do is get people to explore these engines as an option for a reliable, powerful, and relatively inexpensive power source for their next project.

Thank you all for your help on the forum, I wouldn't be where I am if this place wasn't here. I hope this smidgen of information can help someone else at some point. Please feel free to comment, voice your opinion, and fix any spelling/grammar mistakes (of which I'm sure there are many...). Thanks again, and happy karting!

Jeez, man- That was close! I've been sifting thru so much lunchmeat, that when I saw a long-winded post with a bunch of links in it, I almost pulled the pin on you- Whew!!!

__________________Treat it as you would an aircraft frame and you should have no problems. -Name WithheldThe Manual- "Just the manufacturer's opinion of how to put this together."- Tim "The Tool Man" TaylorPut down the wrench, and come out with your hands up!- Me!Wrench, Wheel, Wreck, Repeat...

You can find distributors for other countries HERE. Unfortunately I'm not sure what the cost of these engines are in other countries, they could very likely cost just about the same as Honda engines. I just checked and those e-bay auctions do not offer international shipping, although it could be worth trying to get them to make an exception.

Those do look pretty slick! I'd love to play with one. Thanks for the info!

Interestingly enough, the EX17 is available from Princess Auto for $110 less than the Honda GX160

__________________Treat it as you would an aircraft frame and you should have no problems. -Name WithheldThe Manual- "Just the manufacturer's opinion of how to put this together."- Tim "The Tool Man" TaylorPut down the wrench, and come out with your hands up!- Me!Wrench, Wheel, Wreck, Repeat...

Those do look pretty slick! I'd love to play with one. Thanks for the info!

Interestingly enough, the EX17 is available from Princess Auto for $110 less than the Honda GX160

then buy one! I personally like flatheads and predators, The low rumble of a 1970 briggs 10hp sounds pretty impressive. The only thing is it requires constant cleaning, overhauling and rebuilding. If it blows a rod, replace the broken parts and keep going. Those thing almost indestructable.

Yeah- no problem. I'll just rummage thru the ashtray in my car for the $418.09 and fuel it's gonna take for me to run off to P.A. to buy one for no particularly good reason...

Quote:

1970 briggs 10hp ...requires constant cleaning, overhauling and rebuilding. If it blows a rod, replace the broken parts and keep going. Those thing almost indestructable.

...Makes me wanna run right out and buy one'a them, too...

__________________Treat it as you would an aircraft frame and you should have no problems. -Name WithheldThe Manual- "Just the manufacturer's opinion of how to put this together."- Tim "The Tool Man" TaylorPut down the wrench, and come out with your hands up!- Me!Wrench, Wheel, Wreck, Repeat...

If you are interested, I would send that e-bay seller an e-mail. Shipping to Canada really isn't much harder for the shipper as compared to domestic shipping. I know these engines are expensive, but they are indestructible little beasts and are certainly worth looking into if you were planning to buy a new engine.

When I bought my EX17, I looked at it this way... Say I spent $100 on a clone, I would save $125, sweet! Now Say that the clone decided to break, I would be looking at another $100, and I would be kicking myself for not getting the Subaru. On top of that I just think the Subaru engines are really neat, and that they would have a re-sale value equivalent to one, or maybe even two new clones.

No, I'm not getting one- I have no current use (or budget) for one. I was merely suggesting that they looked very good and are worth considering in the future.

__________________Treat it as you would an aircraft frame and you should have no problems. -Name WithheldThe Manual- "Just the manufacturer's opinion of how to put this together."- Tim "The Tool Man" TaylorPut down the wrench, and come out with your hands up!- Me!Wrench, Wheel, Wreck, Repeat...

r97, in your search of these Robin Engines, have you come accross anything that has the specs on the 12volt output of the EX21 engine?

reason I'm asking, my gokart came with a cheap 35 watt light set, that i replaced with a 55 watt light set.
I ran dual seperate batteries for the new lights, in fear of burning up the 12 volt source located in the motor.

Just curious what the max amps or the max load i can put on the engine.
and another question, will more load decrease the output power of the motor?

From the picture, it looks like the 200W is a full circle, while the 15W and the 40W are a semi circle. If you removed the flywheel you could tell immediately if you had a 200W, but you would probably need to look up part numbers to distinguish between a 15W and a 40W. The 40W and 200W are also listed as using a regulator rectifier, while the 15W is said to use a diode, that could be one way to tell the coils apart. You may be better off measuring the output of your coil.